Shift Work, And A Hobby Farm

[AnthonyF]

Hi there,
My first post I asked this question but guess I should have put it in the tittle to get some more specific response. I recently bought a 17 acre hobby farm in north-central British Columbia, and I work shift work. 4 days on 4 days off then 4 nights on, 12 hour shift with 1.5 hours travel each way. Just wondering who else out there does shift work and runs a hobby farm. We currently have some layers and are looking at getting broilers, and maybe some pigs, as well as attempt a garden when the snow clears. Any advice you have on how to handle the work load at home and away would be great. Thanks very much, and on a side note I feel like I have learnt so much since joining, great site!

[Beeman]

Hobby Farm? Is this something attempting to sell things and make a profit? Or is this just a hobby to give you fresher food and the enjoyment of non stop labor?
Most basically work at work and then work all of the time they are home. Never a need for sleep aids.

[oregon woodsmok]

I'm not doing it now, but I have worked a job with long hours and rotating shifts, so my hours changed all the time. As long as the animals get fed twice a day, they learn to be happy when it is mealtime and not to expect meals at a set time.

You have to organize the farm work so it is set up for efficiency.

[AnthonyF]

just a hobby to get a more "home grown" menu at home

[randy11acres]

You are looking at 15 hours away from your homestead on the days you are working. Having animals requires making sure their food and water requirements are met daily, let alone what about if they get loose, while you are gone.

[wogglebug]

Originally Posted by oregon woodsmok

I'm not doing it now, but I have worked a job with long hours and rotating shifts, so my hours changed all the time. As long as the animals get fed twice a day, they learn to be happy when it is mealtime and not to expect meals at a set time.

You have to organize the farm work so it is set up for efficiency.

Animals evolved to be wild, and to eat when they found the food. There's nothing either magic or required about particular times of day, provided they're not too close together or too far apart.

Dairy cows are a particular case, though. Feed 'em when you can, but they do need to be milked regularly at particular times of day. Not any specific time, but when you settle on something you need to keep it regular. The traditional early morning and late afternoon worked well because the temperature dipped down then, and the milk kept better. However, if you don't love getting up before sunrise, and you've got refrigeration available, then after breakfast for one of the milkings will work just fine.

[SueMc]

I worked 3-11 for years and had a large Nubian herd. I milked at noon and midnight. DH did alot of barn/animal chores but I wanted to do the milking. I knew what was going on with my goats that way.

[MaineFarmMom]

You can leave out enough food for pigs and chickens for a day. You said "we" so it sounds like someone will be there at least sometimes who can make sure there's enough water and shade on a hot day.

Since pigs and chickens don't need to be milked on a regular schedule that part of this conversation amused me. I still haven't had enough !

You can get a lot of work done in the garden on your days off. If you have to water on work days either the person/people at home will do it or you'll need to do it around your schedule. That's not a big deal unless you're talking a huge garden.

[sammyd]

I did it for a number of years but it was only half an hour to work.
I liked nights because I could work at home all day. I did 12's 6pm to 6am with 2 on 2 off 3 on and so forth
got 36 hours one week and 48 the second. Don't know if I'd work a job that made me switch to days every other week.
It was an almost ideal situation.
The wife works different hours at the hospital so her start times vary from 6:30 am to 2 pm. But she is usually only 32 hours.
We milked 20 goats, fed out 10 or so calves, had 100 meat birds 100 or so rabbits and 20 layers.
Had 9 acres of our own and made hay on up to 70 more.

Never a dull moment.

[big rockpile]

Originally Posted by oregon woodsmok

I'm not doing it now, but I have worked a job with long hours and rotating shifts, so my hours changed all the time. As long as the animals get fed twice a day, they learn to be happy when it is mealtime and not to expect meals at a set time.

You have to organize the farm work so it is set up for efficiency.

Got to agree.I had a Farm of 100 acres was working Long Odd Hours 7 days a week.My wife was working Factory work 40 hours a week.

It took both us.

big rockpile

[ronbre]

start small and do what you know you can handle, first..then slowly add on

[rambler]

Here in southern MN in my area it is quite common for a farmer to run a smaller 300-800 acre corn/soybean farm, wife and hubby both work a full time job with at least one being a shift job. Friend of mine does this with a 200 hog barn as well, plus a few bottle calves. Planting and harvest time get a little hectic, but they get through.

Should be no problem with a small spread like yours.

--->Paul

[PrincessFerf]

We don't have as much land as you do, but we both work outside of the home. We raise layers and broilers. (broilers during the warmer months only)

My layers free range, but when we're at work, they're only allowed outside in the enclosed run. When we're not at home, I don't feel comfortable with my chickens running free.

The amount of time spent during the week isn't too much. Feed/water/collect eggs. I do coop cleanings on the weekends. Its not too bad once you get into a routine.

I don't know where you live, but in the deep of winter, caring for any kind of farm animal isn't much fun.

[AnthonyF]

thanks all, I knew it was possible with some hard work, just wanted to see who else here has a similar schedule

[adamtheha]

This is my current situation, I'm a law enforcement shift worker. Because I have a looooooong drive (1.25 hrs each way) my work days end up being 14 hrs long. If I sleep 6.5 hrs, I get about 3 hours with my kids. The good deal is that I only work 14 days a month. You have to carefully chose what kind of "homesteading" elements you want to incorporate. Automation is wonderful for feeding creatures like chickens. I won't be doing a milk cow for obvious reasons....
A garden with timed watering, beef cattle, horses, greenhouses and chickens are all on my menu this year, or at least in the next few.

[Kmac15]

we have tried to make our setup as user friendly as we can because of situations like this. We have an automatic dog water dish in the bird house and pig pen, large feeder in the chicken house (only needs to be filled 1-2 week). We would feed the hogs and collect eggs at least once a day, twice if able.

Good luck

[rancher1913]

done it for a long time now (LEO with long hours but flexible schedule). we survive with automatic waters for everything---chickens, pigs, cows, goats, dogs, cats. every pen has bulk feeders so we can go weeks between feeding. during calving season I'm "sick" alot but I use easy calving bulls so its not as bad as it could be. you have to like work because if you don't use every hour available you'll get behind the eight ball quickly. with field work in spring I work 16 hours a day and same in fall for harvest.

[minifarmer]

I'm a livestock reproduction lab technician and my hours are pretty consistently either 9 hours or 12 hours, depending on the seasons. Don't have as much land as you, but when both hubby and I worked, it was hard, but doable. We had dairy goats with 2x/day milkings, over a hundred layers, a fairly large garden, and pigs. We installed the 'fountain' type watering system for the layers, so they would always have fresh water, we used 'pig' nipples for the pigs and trained the goats to drink on them as well. I milked and fed at 5am, My daughter milked at 6pm and hubby worked on fencing and projects a few hours each night. My hardest time was harvest season, with daily vegie picking and constant pickling/canning. I usually stayed up til midnight or later trying to finish canning projects. The weekends got absorbed in projects and preserving. We usually skipped church during harvest times and pig butcher times.